Warriors start season with 33-8 win years ago
Staff writer
Peabody-Burns High School football team started the season on a winning note Friday with a 33-8 victory over the Hutch Trinity Celtics.
The PBHS Warriors kicked to the visitors to start the contest. Defense held the Celtics to one set of downs with stops recorded by Mario Nava, Brandon Crabtree, and Ryan Gaines. Nava fielded the Celtic punt to set up the first Warrior possession.
A pass from quarterback Todd Woodruff to Micah Hilliard took the line of scrimmage from the Warrior 41 to the Celtic 25-yard line. On the next play, Nava scampered to the end zone giving the Warriors the early lead with 9:28 left in the first quarter. Brian Baker was successful on the extra point and took the Warrior lead to 7-0.
The Celtics had some success on the next series but the Warrior defense was able to force a change of possession with 3:47 left in the first quarter. Kurt Phillips, Trevor Hamm, James Morris, Jonathan Foth, Isaiah Eldridge, Nathan Bishop, Crabtree, and Woodruff, each had key tackles in the series.
The Warriors took over on offense on their own 34-yard line. On second-and-10, Phillips took a pitch to the left side 67 yards for the score. The PAT by Baker was no good and the Warrior lead moved to 13-0 with 2:41 left in the first.
Warrior defense once again came up big on the next series when Hilliard snagged a Celtic pass and returned the ball 35 yards to the Celtic 35-yard line.
The next offensive series for the Warriors was less than stellar. The PBHS team got as close as first-and-goal at the seven, but ended the penalty-laden drive with a punt at the Celtic 31-yard line.
Both teams had two more offensive series before the half, but the score remained 13-0 at the buzzer.
To start the second half, the Warriors took to the field on offense starting at the Warrior 26-yard line. PBHS earned a new set of downs with three runs by Nava. Phillips ran for three on first down. Nava earned 49 yards on second down with a big run around the left side to the Celtic 12-yard line. Phillips took the ball to the nine-yard line on first down. On second down, Nava shot across the middle of the Celtic defense to earn the third score of the night. The two-point attempt was no good and the lead was 19-0 with 8:19 left in the third quarter.
Defensively, the Warriors stayed on track from the first half, stopping the Celtics on the first offensive series on a fourth-and-eight at the Celtic 46-yard line. Special teams came up with a partial block of the Celtic punt and the Warrior offense took over at the 50-yard line.
The Warriors moved the ball but failed to convert a third-and-10 at the Celtic 36. Special teams did their job again when Warrior punter Baker kicked a short punt that backed the Celtics up to their own one-yard line.
The Celtics didn't have the ball long. On second-and-eight, I. Eldridge fell on the loose football to put the PBHS offense back to work on a short field at the two-yard line.
Phillips gained short yardage to bring up second-and-one. Time ran out in the third quarter. The first play in the fourth was an unsuccessful third down run by Nava. On fourth-and-one, Woodruff pitched the ball to Nava and he scored a touchdown with 11:08 left in the fourth. The Warriors went up 25-0. Baker was good on the PAT and the Warrior lead moved to 26-0.
The Warrior kick-off was a short grounder in the middle of the field to give the Celtics the ball on their own 47. Defense again made big plays with Crabtree, I. Eldridge, Nava, Gaines, Woodruff, and Hilliard credited with tackles. Phillips made a run to catch a Celtic receiver from behind to stop the Celtics at the Warrior four-yard line. Gaines, Crabtree, Nava, and Woodruff combined tackling efforts to stop the drive and take over on offense on the six-yard line.
The Warriors put together a long drive one series later to put the final Warrior score on the board at the 1:44 mark late in the fourth. Nava once again took to the left side and ran 30 yards for the touchdown. Baker put the extra point through the uprights and theWarriors went up 33-0.
The Celtics did a last gasp on offense. With 14 seconds left in the game, the Celtics pushed into the endzone for a score. They added a two-point conversion and the final for the contest was 33-8.
"We have a very good idea of the work we need to do this next week. We need to clean some things up and get sharper," said Coach Young. "But I was pleased with a lot of things I saw tonight. For a first game of the season against a 3A opponent, the team did a great job to get the win."
The team travels Friday to Inman.
Mario Nava had 20 carries for 170 yards and four touchdowns. Kurt Phillips was 16-for-110 yards and one touchdown. Todd Woodruff was 11-for-33 rushing and three-for-six in passing yardage for 54 yards. Micah Hilliard had three catches on the night for 54 yards and one interception return for 35 yards.
Brandon Crabtree led the team in tackles with 16. Other tackles totals include Mario Nava, 12; Brian Baker, 8; Todd Woodruff, 7; Ryan Gaines, 7; Kurt Phillips, 4; Micah Hilliard, 4; Isaiah Eldridge, 4; James Morris, 4; Jonathan Foth, 3; Trevor Hamm, 3: Nathan Bishop, 2; Derrick Simmonds, 1; and Jovan Nedekjovic, 1.
